Man who was strip-searched settles excessive force lawsuit against fired state trooper

A Duncannon man who claimed a state trooper illegally yanked him out of work and detained him for hours during which he was strip-searched has settled a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state police.

The terms of the settlement Joshua Bair reached in his complaint against Trooper Michael Trotta are confidential, Bair's lawyer, Geoffrey McInroy said Monday. He said he could not reveal whether any payment is to be made to his client.

Trotta, who was fired by state police last fall, also is the subject of two other abuse of authority lawsuits pending in U.S. Middle District Court.

Bair claimed in his suit, filed last September, that Trotta ordered him out of his workplace, Doughboy Pizza in Upper Paxton Township, in September 2013. Bair said he was late to work and had gotten a ride from a friend. He said Trotta confronted the friend about a turn signal violation.

Even though Bair wasn't driving, Trotta made him stand outside the pizza shop while he questioned the driver, according to the suit. When Bair said he had to get to work, Trotta handcuffed him and stuck a pen up Bair's nose to look at his nostrils. Bair claimed Trotta made him stand in handcuffs for about 90 minutes, while he tried to get a search warrant.

Trotta then drove Bair to the state police barracks at Lykens, where he was strip-searched, even though Trotta had not secured a valid search warrant, the suit stated. Bair wasn't charged.

Bair sought unspecified financial damages on claims of excessive use of force and false imprisonment.

In reply to the suit, state police claimed Trotta saw Bair jump out of a moving car in the Doughboy Pizza parking lot. The trooper saw Bair move his hands in and out of his pockets and suspected he was intoxicated, police claimed. They contended that Bair wasn't detained as long as he claimed and insisted that Trotta did secure a valid warrant to search Bair.

In confirming Trotta's firing last November, state police denied it was connected with the complaints lodged against him. "He was fired for internal matters," Trooper Robert Hicks, a police spokesman, said at the time. "It has nothing to do with an ongoing investigation or pending lawsuits, but because of internal personnel matters."

Trotta and Trooper Ryan Luckenbaugh were placed on restricted duty in July 2015 after Christopher Siennick of Harrisburg accused them of brutality when they arrested him in May 2015. A federal lawsuit Siennick filed over the incident is pending. So is an unrelated federal suit Stephanie Stitely of Mercersburg lodged against Trotta claiming he unlawful detained her during a traffic stop in April 2015.

Trotta was shot multiple times when he exchanged gunfire with a West Hanover Township man in June 2014. David Ricker, who Trotta claimed had been drunk and disorderly also was wounded during the confrontation at his home. A Dauphin County grand jury ruled in October 2014 that Trotta's actions were justified.

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